12th August, 2020
By Abdullahi Mohammed/ Gagarawa Jigawa
Gov. Mohammed Badaru of Jigawa on Wednesday said the federal government’s Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) scheme is expected to inject about N1.25 billion monthly into the economy of the state when the target beneficiaries were fully captured.
The governor made this known when 26,734 beneficiaries were officially added to the scheme in Gagarawa Local Government Area.
The beneficiaries were drawn from across the state with the host producing 1,336 beneficiaries.
Badaru said additional 31,949 people had been selected for subsequent payment, and that the federal government’s poverty intervention scheme had been yielding the desired results since it commenced in 2017.
“The payment of the CCT commenced in August 2017 with about 20,000 beneficiaries, which increased to 99,056 beneficiaries in the nine pilot LGAs of the state,” the governor said.
According to him, the state is one of those with the highest number of beneficiaries where N9.074 billion was paid between August 2017 and April 2020.
He pointed out that with the new set of beneficiaries, the state had an injection of N628,950 into its economy monthly.
“While today’s launch is for the payment of 26,734 beneficiaries statewide, additional 31,949 beneficiaries have been selected and will start receiving the Cash Transfer during subsequent payment circle.
“This brings the total number of beneficiaries so far identified to 58,683 in the state, and if it goes on at the same ratio we will be expecting additional 150,000 in the 18 LGAs.
“And if you calculate, you will see it will go to about 249,000 beneficiaries and that will be huge and I am sure it will be the biggest number in the whole country.
“And when you translate about 250,000 people benefiting N5,000 a month, that will be of an injection of about N1.25 billion monthly in the state and is very huge lift to our economy.
“As the selection process of beneficiaries continues, many communities have been added to the state’s social register and will equally be added to the CCT beneficiaries’ data of the state,” the governor explained.
Badaru said the current beneficiaries from the 18 LGAs only constituted about 25 per cent of the beneficiaries captured.
“The work for the identification of the beneficiaries has already begun and more than 25 per cent of the communities have been engaged and enumerated,” he said.
Badaru thanked the minister of Humanitarian Affairs and President Muhammadu Buhari for making poverty reduction scheme in the state and the country at large a reality.
The governor explained that the federal government considered Jigawa as one of the poorest states in the country and that was why it decided to focus on the state.